Packed In for the Ride

Before Nicole Ponseca opened her Filipino gastropub Jeepney this fall, she traveled the U.S. and studied how others served Filipino food.

ENLARGE

Bartender Jessica Faria serving customers at Jeepney, a Filipino gastropub in the East Village.
Agaton Strom for The Wall Street Journal

Her findings: Many restaurants are "mom-and-pop" greasy spoons with tasty food but poor service, and the venues were less than spectacular. She wanted to merge the best of fare with an eclectic venue, which she created by incorporating World War II-era jeep taxicabs into the shop's walls. "I would say it definitely feels like you're riding in a jeepney when you walk inside," she said.

Happy hour attracts a steady crowd for two-for-one pitchers of beer and wine-cocktails, which are named after streets and barrios in the Philippines. The Fort—a mixture of the trendy aperol, guava puree and celery bitters—is a tangy, sharp option at $9. White beer (yes, white beer) is combined with orange juice, orange bitters and orange blossom water in the Remedios Circle ($7.)

Plates of Filipino appetizers—think tapas, but call it pulutan—are filled with spring rolls, intestines and semolina. "The idea is when you have pulutan, you have a little mix of everything," Ms. Ponseca said. "It's salty, it's sweet, it's filled with big flavors. The food is not muted."

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